Aveiro. Project to restore oyster reefs

The University of Aveiro (UA) revealed this Friday that it is leading the “Restoration of Portugal’s Oyster Reefs” (RePor) project, with the aim of restoring and strengthening the resilience of oyster reefs in Portuguese coastal areas.

“The RePor project proposes an innovative approach to restore oyster reefs that have been suffering a sharp decline due to overexploitation and pollution, in order to recover and capitalize on the ecological, economic and social benefits of these important ecosystems,” explains the university in a press release.

According to the text, “innovative techniques will be developed and applied to increase the resilience of juvenile oysters ('Ostrea edulis'), including preconditioning to thermal and salinity shocks, combined with modulation of the microbiome”.

The project is based on a technological platform composed of porous and biodegradable polymeric meshes, which allows the controlled release of microbial modulators, previously developed by the same research team.

After the testing phase in laboratory conditions, the treated oysters will be transplanted to areas of the Ria de Aveiro, “where indicators such as health, growth, microbial composition and survival rate will be monitored”.

“With this work, we hope to contribute to the development of effective and sustainable strategies for the restoration of degraded marine habitats, based on biotechnological solutions and adapted to the growing environmental pressures on coastal ecosystems,” explains the same source.

Coordinated by researcher Daniel Cleary, from the Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies (CESAM), RePor is supported by the Mar2030 programme, and co-financed by the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFA), within the scope of the action to Support the Protection and Restoration of Biodiversity and Marine Ecosystems.

The project received a favorable opinion from the Directorate-General for Natural Resources, Safety and Maritime Services (DGRM), being aligned with the Marine Strategy Framework Directive and contributing to the implementation of the Northeast Atlantic Environmental Strategy of the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Northeast Atlantic (OSPAR).